Rushcliffe Borough Council is set to keep the planning framework for the redevelopment of the former Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station unchanged following a review of the site’s Local Development Order.
Councillors on the authority’s Cabinet will be asked on Tuesday 13 October to agree that the Local Development Order, known as an LDO, should remain in force in its current form and that no further amendments are needed at present. The council would continue to monitor how the order operates and could consider further changes if circumstances or evidence justify them.
The review is required three years after the LDO was adopted in July 2023. The order was introduced to streamline the planning process for the former power station site and establishes the types of development that can take place there.
It effectively grants outline-style planning permission for development meeting its conditions, including advanced manufacturing, technologies supporting the transition to net zero, green and low-carbon energy generation, data centres and energy storage.
The LDO is intended to remain in force for 25 years, but requires a review on its third anniversary and every five years after that. At each review, the council must decide whether to retain it unchanged, revise it or revoke it.
The forthcoming Cabinet decision would therefore not approve any particular new building or development on the site. Individual detailed proposals still require a Certificate of Compliance application to the council, which the report describes as equivalent to seeking approval of reserved matters under an outline planning permission.
No Certificate of Compliance applications have yet been submitted, meaning no detailed development schemes for the former power station site have so far been approved.
The LDO has, however, already been amended since it was adopted.
Site owner Uniper asked the council in 2025 to make changes allowing data centres on the southern part of the site, south of the A453, as well as giving greater flexibility over environmental mitigation works and allowing Local Labour Agreements to be agreed separately for individual development plots.
Following consultation between November 2025 and January 2026, those amendments were approved by Cabinet in May this year. The expansion of areas where data centres could be developed followed what the council describes as increased national policy support for data centre development.
The changes to environmental mitigation arrangements were intended to allow suitable works to be brought forward earlier with council agreement, rather than necessarily waiting for individual development proposals. Changes to Local Labour Agreements addressed wording which could previously have been interpreted as requiring one agreement to apply across all developers on the site.
Council officers say those amendments dealt with the main issues identified since the original LDO was adopted and that no further operational problems have subsequently emerged.
Although detailed redevelopment schemes have yet to come forward, preparatory work is continuing. Uniper has been seeking to discharge a number of conditions attached to the LDO, with a site-wide management plan and phasing plan among those already approved. A sustainable transport strategy is among the matters still awaiting approval.
Uniper has also appointed contractors to demolish the former power station, with the council report stating that demolition is currently expected to be completed in 2029.
Ratcliffe ceased operating as a coal-fired power station in September 2024, and demolition of the site is a major part of preparing the land for its longer-term redevelopment.
The council’s review concludes that the existing planning framework remains consistent with national planning policy. The site has also been proposed for allocation in the emerging Greater Nottingham Strategic Plan, which is currently undergoing public examination.
The council says the uses proposed in that plan are aligned with those already permitted through the LDO. However, the Strategic Plan allocation remains subject to potential changes arising from the examination process, and any implications for Ratcliffe could be considered later.
A further potential change could arise from Uniper itself. The company is carrying out its own review of the LDO, which the council says is still several months from completion.
If Uniper subsequently asks for further amendments, the council would consider them separately. Any proposed changes would need to undergo public consultation and would ultimately require council approval. The existing LDO does not have to wait until its next formal five-year review before amendments can be considered.
The order also retains a requirement for at least 10% Biodiversity Net Gain following completion of development, subject to the existing provisions of the LDO. As officers are recommending no changes to the order, that requirement would remain unchanged.
Council officers acknowledge a risk that the former power station site could remain undeveloped after its decommissioning. The LDO was introduced, and subsequently amended, in an attempt to reduce that risk by providing a defined planning framework and a more streamlined route for development proposals.
The Cabinet has not yet made its decision. Members will be recommended on 13 October to retain the LDO unchanged while continuing to monitor its operation and considering further amendments if new circumstances justify them.
